The growing and processing of medicinal and other controlled plants presents certain challenges. Many of these challenges are particularly acute in the growing of commercial-grade marijuana for markets allowing medical or recreational use of marijuana and marijuana-derived products. While the growing of marijuana outside and in custom grow houses has been widely known, commercialized markets present hazards not previously encountered. For the purposes of the present disclosure, controlled plants should be understood to refer broadly to plants subject to government regulation or other specialized control, regardless of the exact nature, efficacy or utility of the resultant plant or plant-product. Often, controlled plants have a higher monetary value per unit weight than produce and many other plants, which creates a unique set of challenging conditions.
Many jurisdictions allowing for commercial production of marijuana have in place onerous regulatory schemes with myriad requirements that producers must adhere to gain or retain proper licensing. These regulatory schemes often include such things as stringent quality control standards. Also, many regulatory schemes, and business plans from a safety and profitability standpoint, require significant security measures to prevent unauthorized access to marijuana plants during the entirety of the plant's growing and processing into product. For many commercial operations compliance with such regulations can be a significant and sometimes insurmountable financial and technical burden.
Maintaining proper growing and processing conditions while growing and processing such plants can present certain difficulties. If environmental conditions such as air quality and humidity are not properly controlled, plant yield and quality can suffer significantly. In stringently regulated markets, quality problems may render certain operations unviable. For instance, many marijuana growing operations suffer from unacceptable levels of pathogens such as black mold, brown rot, grey mold, penicillium mold, rhizopus rot, colletotrichum rot, snow mold and mucor mold.
The trend towards greater social acceptance of marijuana and the accompanying trend of marijuana decriminalization only make more pressing and substantial the problems outlined above.
The subject matter of the present disclosure is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing the effects of, one or more of the problems set forth above.